The Iola register., 1887-03-04
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Discourse on Wise Men Who
Play the Fool For a Purpose.
Hen Who Allow the Technicalities of Re-
ugfon to Impede Their Salvation
Wise In Great Thin g. hut Mere Babes
in Relation to Things Eternal

uGfon to Impede Their Salvation
Wise In Great Things. hut Mere Babes
in Relation to Things Eternal
Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage, in . recent ser
mon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, DIS
coursed on some Of the weaknesses of
mankind. taking for his text:
And he changed his behavior before them.
and fegned himself mad in their hands. and
scrabbled on the doors OF the gate, and ie. his
spittle fall down upon his beard-L Sam, xxi,
u
He said: There is one scene in the life II
David that you may not have ponderei
You have seen him with a harp playin g
the devil out of Saul; with sling. smash
ing the skull of Goliath: with a sword.
hacking TO pieces the Philistiaes; with a
scepter, ruling vast realm; with psalm.
gathering all nations into doxology; but
In ny text you have David playing the
fool He has been anointed King, yet he is
IN exile and passing incogaito among the
Gathites- They begin 10 suspect who he
is, and say:
- wonder il this is not the warrior King
David. 1t looks like him. Is not this the
iuan about whom they used to make
poetry, and about whom they composed a
dance. so that the maidens of the CITY.
reeiiug now on one foot and now on the
other, used to sing: Saul has slain his
thousands, but David has slain his tens of
thousands Yes. il is very much like
David. II must be David. 1t is David
David. 20 escape their hands. preteuds
to be demented. He said within himself:
If l act crafty. then these people will
no: iniure me. Nooae would be So much
of a coward as to assault mailman
So. one day. while these Gathites are
watching David with increased suspicion.
they see him standing by the door running
his hands meaaiR glesslv up and down the
pancls-scrab5liug on the door as though
he would clin0 up, his mouth wide open.
drooling like an infant I suppose the
boys Of the streets threw missiles az him,
but the sober people OF the town said:
''TRis is not fair. Do you not see that
he has lost his reason. Do not touch this
mailman Hands of, hands off,
SO David escaped; but what an exhibit
ton he made of himself before all the
ages, There was a majesty in King
Lear's madness after Regan aud Go1eril.
his daughters. had pursuaiei him to
Danish fhcir sister Cordelia. and all the
friends Of the drama have been thrilled
With that spectacle. The cra1iness of
deg Merriiles was weird and imposing.
and the most telling passage in Waiter
Scott's Guy Mannering" There was a
fascination about the insanity Of Alex
ander Cruden, who made the best con-
cordaace of the B be that the world ever
saw-made il between the mad-houses
Some tim ago. while I was visiting the
insane asylum on BlacENelrs Island. a
demepded woman came up 10 rle and saiI,
in most tragic style:
God moves IN a mysterious way,
HIS wonders TO perform:
He plants His footsteps in the sea.
And rides upon the storm
But there was nothing grand. nothing
weird, nothing majestic, nothing sublime.
about the stimulation on the part of David.
Instead Of trusting iu the Lord. as he had
on other occasions, he gathers before him
vast audience Of all generations that
were to come. and standing on that con-
spicucus stage of history, in the presence
of all the ages, he impersouateS the slav-
ering IDIOT
And he changed his behavior before them.
sad feig1ed himself mad in their hands. and
scrsbhled II the door OF the gate, and let his
ep:ttle fall upon his beard.
Taking the behavior of David a. . sug-
Eestion- wish to tell you how many Of
the wise- and the brave. and the regal.
sometimes play the fool And in the first
place / remark that those men as badly
play the fool as this man of the text, who.
in any crisis of life, take their cases out
of the hand of God David. in this case.
acted as though there were no God 10 lift
him out OF this predicamenr What
a contrast between his behavior,
when this brave little man stood up in
front Of the giant ten feet in he.gat and
lookirg into his face said:
Tnou CONTEST 10 me with a sword and with a
spear. and with a shield: but come to thee IN
the name of the Lord Of Hosts the God OF the
armies ofIsrseL whom thou hast defei This
day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand.
and I vii snite thee. and take thine head
FROM thee, and viii give the earcasses OF the
hosts Of the Philistiaes this day unto the fowls
OF the air. and to the wild beasts OF the earth.
that al the earth may know that there Is God
in Israel
Between that time and this time. when
he debased himself. and bedragClei / his
manhood and affected insanity il order
that he might escape from the grip OF the
GathiteS- In the one case he played the
hero. II the other case he played the fool
So does every man who, in the great crisis
Of Life. taxes his case out Of the hand of
God The life Of the most insignificant
man in this house is too vast for aay hu-
man management One time, returning
from the West. very easily got on the
locomotive while passing over the plains,
and talked with the engineer. but coming
on toward the Allegheny Mountains. l
thought would like to sit CT the locomo-
tive IS il came down from the Il Mountains
amidst that most wonderful scenery on
this continent I asked the engineer if
might ride but he ccurteously denied me,
for there the grade is so steep. and so wind
ing, an6 so perilous, that he must not have
any one on the locomotive who may di-
vert his attention whe- eye and hand and
foot and brain must be concentered, ready
for the most sudden emergency. Well
my friends. Life is so steep, and so peril
ous, and so exposed to sudden surprises.
that none but the Lord Almighty can guide
and engineer it and our disasters come
from the fact that we want to get up and
hep the Lord 70 manage the train
Keep Of the engine, Be willing TO let
God pull you where he wants to pull you.
You have no right for an instant to sur
render your sanity and manhood as David
surrendered his Put your trust in Goi.
and he will take yeu through and over the
mountains / very much suspect that all
the successful enterprises that were ever
carried on, and al the successful lives
that have ever been lived have been fully
surrendered TO God When the girl Vic
toria was awakened in the night, and told
that the throIc of Great Britain was hers
she said p the prelate informing her:
II ask yo-r prayers" and then and there
they knelt down and prayed. Do you
wonder tha. thougc since that time ell
the thrones of Europe have fallen or been